Time Difference
by DreamWvr73
Summary: MacGyver and Gillian are still in London retrieving their artifacts...


Gillian MacKenzie sighed and ran a few fingers through her red hair; she was holding a clipboard in her hand going over the list of artifacts that Mr. Harrison, the Curator of the Royal British Museum, had given her. She was down in the basement; the wide open room was slightly chilly and had the smell of ancient times and damp walls. A group of long tables had been set up and a dozen museum volunteers were carefully wrapping each item and gently placing them in a large wooden crate. They were all being supervised by a young man named Darren Starling; he was about 5 foot 10, with blond hair and blue eyes. He was a very handsome and ambitious young man that could easily have become a model, he had the face and the body for it, but instead he had chosen to use his brain, not his looks. Gillian didn't care much for him, he was very intelligent but there was an arrogance to him that she found irritating, because of this she said as little to him as possible.

The high pitched whining sound of the elevator descending got Gillian's attention; she was hoping that it was MacGyver. The fancy carved wooden paneled door slid open and a middle aged man with short dark hair, that bore a remarkable resemblance to a starving vulture, stepped out. Gillian tried not to let her disappointment show. The Curator was dressed in a cheap looking brown suit, he saw the young woman and smiled, he thought she was very beautiful.

"Miss MacKenzie."

Gillian watched him walk over to her. "Mr. Harrison."

"How are things going?" He was watching her like a hawk, his cold blue eyes scanning her up and down.

"Fine, just fine." Gillian didn't like the way he was looking at her, it made her feel very uncomfortable. "Have you seen my counterpart?"

"No actually I haven't, is there a problem?"

Gillian could feel his eyes on her; she took the clipboard and put it against her chest, crossing her arms over it. "No, no problem I just need to talk to him about a few packing details."

Martin Harrison nodded. "All right then, I shall leave you to your packing." He walked back over to the elevator, he pressed the button and the door closed. Gillian sighed in relief, she was glad that he was gone, that man gave her the willies. The elevator dinged and her relief was suddenly gone, the door slid open and MacGyver came stepped out. 

"Hi."

Gillian closed her eyes briefly. "Hi, I thought that little weasel was back, where have you been?"

Her description of the Curator made him laugh. "Weasel huh, well that is a good way to describe him, sorry I was gone for so long I was on the phone with Pete. I wanted to let him know we got here okay."

Mac saw the clipboard she was holding. "What's this?"

"Something we need to talk about." Gillian turned around and looked at the volunteers; they were busy and not paying attention to the two of them. "But not here, the walls have ears." She was referring to Starling when she said this, he was also Harrison's assistant and often had his nose where it didn't belong.

"Okay so let's go find a place to talk."

"Come on."

They walked around the corner to the area of the basement that was used for storage, it was divided into sections; each one made of chicken wire and wood, forming little boxes with padlocks on the doors. When she thought they were far enough away from the main room, she handed Mac her clipboard.

"This is the list of the artifacts that Harrison gave me."

MacGyver scanned the list; he flipped up the top page and nodded. "Okay it has 205 items listed on it.

Gillian took something out of her pocket, it was two pieces of paper that were folded up. She unfolded it and smoothed it out against her leg. "This is the original list Matthews made 4 years ago."

MacGyver took the papers and compared them to the list from the Curator. "They don't match, Harrison's list has 205 items, Matthews' list has 215 items."

"I know, there are 10 artifacts unaccounted for."

Mac looked at Gillian. "Are you sure Matthews' list is correct?"

Gillian nodded. "Positive, Matthews kept very detailed records of the dig, his log entries coincide with the list."

Mac sighed and tucked the clipboard under his arm; he folded the list back up. "Here keep a hold of this, we need to give Pete a call and tell him."

Gillian took the list and put it back in her pocket. "I also think we should keep this quiet, I don't want Harrison to get suspicious."

MacGyver handed the clipboard back to Gillian. "We'll call Pete at the hotel."

Gillian was sitting in the middle of the king size bed, she had a pillow in her lap, her legs tucked underneath her Indian style. She was waiting for MacGyver to get back from talking to Pete. She had changed out of her jeans and now only wore a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The door opened and MacGyver walked in, he took off his leather jacket and tossed it on the nearby chair, Gillian was watching him.

"Well? What did Pete say?"

Mac sighed and pulled his white shirt from the waist band of his black jeans, he sat down beside Gillian on the bed. "He said that we should go to Scotland Yard." 

Gillian shook her head. "Mac we _can't go to Scotland Yard, all we have is two lists that don't match, we have absolutely no proof that the artifacts are missing."_

MacGyver rubbed his hands over his face; it had been a long day on very little sleep. "I know that Gillian, believe me."

"So what do we do?"

He kicked off his sneakers and laid down on the bed. "I don't know, my brain stopped working about two hours ago."

Gillian looked down at him; she took the pillow out from her lap and hit him in the chest with it. "Mac be serious, what are we going to do?"

MacGyver had his eyes closed. "Gillian, we arrived here at 3 o'clock in the morning, we slept for 5 hours and just spent the better part of a day in the museum. Why don't we get some sleep and talk about it then?"

She crossed her arms over her chest; she didn't want to admit that she was tired too. "All right, if it will make you happy that's what we'll do."

"Yes, it would make me very happy." 

"Fine." 

He opened his eyes and turned his head slightly towards her, all he could see was her back. "Are you going to lay down?"

"I don't know."

MacGyver put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, lay down, we've had a long day." He pulled back on her shoulder gently; finally she gave in and allowed him to lay her down. Her arms were still crossed over her chest; she was staring up at the ceiling. Mac turned on his side, took one of her hands and kissed it gently. "Don't worry about the artifacts; we'll get them back, okay?"

Gillian turned her head towards him and nodded. "Okay."

He smiled at her and laid back down, he still had her hand and he pulled her towards him, he put his other hand on her back.  Gillian curled up beside him and put her head on his chest, she put her arm across his waist. "What are we going to do when we wake up, besides talk about the artifacts?"

"I don't know, by then it'll be dinnertime, you want to go get something to eat?"

Gillian yawned widely; she was beginning to feel the busy day catch up with her. "Yeah we can do that."

"I saw this little place around the corner, we can eat there." MacGyver's voice was getting lower; it was obvious he was falling asleep.

"Go to sleep Mac."

That was the last thing MacGyver heard before sleep overtook him.

MacGyver and Gillian were at a very small restaurant called Loxton's Landing, it was only big enough for half a dozen tables; the walls were covered with pictures of various cities in England. It was a nice place that resembled a typical country side house, white with dark brown wooden shutters; they boasted they had the best food in all of Great Britain. The couple was the only one in the quaint little restaurant. 

Mac was sitting across from Gillian, he had been thinking about something since he woke up. They had only slept for a few hours and he had awakened first. The feel of the beautiful young woman in his arms was wonderful but there was an old nagging fear that was coming back to him. It was the fear of being hurt and getting his heart broken, it was something he hadn't learned to let go of and he wondered if he ever would. He thought that maybe this time it would be different but at the same time he was afraid to try. 

"Gillian, I think we need to talk about something."

She was cutting into her lemon chicken, she lifted her head and looked at him. She had an idea of what he was going to say, she could feel it. "All right, what do you want to talk about?"

"It's about us." He sighed and shook his head, what he had to say was hard because he really cared about the young woman. "Gillian, I don't think this is going to work."

She put down her knife and fork. "Why do you think that?"

MacGyver leaned back in his chair. "You don't want to get mixed up with a guy like me."

"Why? Because you've had relationships that didn't work in the past?"

He nodded slowly. "Something like that, yeah."  He sat forward again and gently touched her hand. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt."

Mac rubbed his hands over his face and exhaled through them. "Gillian, I'm trying to spare you."

Gillian shook her head. "No Mac, you are trying to spare _you." She pushed her plate aside; she was done with her dinner. "I know you're scared, the women that have come into your life have done nothing more than use you for their own purposes and then they tossed you aside when those purposes were served." She could see the truth of the words in his eyes and that quieted her sudden flare up of frustration, she reached across the table and laid her hand against his cheek. "They didn't care about you and they didn't want too." Her voice had grown soft. "I'm not like that Mac, I don't have an ulterior motive for why I want to be with you, I just do." She glided her fingers down his face. "Please, let me try, give us a chance."_

MacGyver's eyes were closed, the feel of her small hand on his face made his resistance crumble away. He opened his eyes slowly. Her gaze with those beautiful brown eyes told him that she was telling the truth and that she was right, they did deserve a chance. "Okay."

Gillian smiled at him; she leaned across the tiny table and kissed him. 

"Are you sure this plan is going to work?"

The couple was lying in bed, it was only after 7 and neither one was ready to go to sleep, they were simply laying there looking up at the ceiling and talking.

"I think so, after all we are going to stimulate his sense of greed, he won't be able to resist." Gillian got a chill and moved closer to Mac, she was practically on top of him.

"Hey what's with the scooting over? Any closer to me and you'll be my shirt." 

"Sorry I'm cold."

Mac turned on his side and looked at her, she had on a pair of cotton pants and a short-sleeved t-shirt. "Well get under the covers if you are cold."

"I'd rather just snuggle up next to you."

MacGyver laughed. "I don't think I'm warm enough."

"Oh all right." Gillian got up and pulled back the white comforter on her side of the bed, she slid underneath it.

"Warmer?"

"Yeah but now I'm by myself."

"You are not I'm right here."

Gillian looked at him and gave him her best impersonation of a puppy dog. "Will you come under the covers with me?"

MacGyver sighed and got up. "All right but you have to turn your head so I can change."

"Okay, I'll cover my head." Gillian put the comforter over her head and laid flat on her back.

"And no peeking." Mac leaned over and made sure her head was completely covered. When he was satisfied that it was, he changed out his jeans and slipped on a pair of black sweat pants. Gillian carefully moved the comforter down her face so she could see. She watched as he took off his shirt, she got a full view of his chest and back. The spying made the young woman smiled wickedly, she felt her cheeks grow hot and without a doubt they were probably as red as a fire engine. Mac turned around and she quickly put the covers back over her head.

"Okay you can look now." 

Gillian moved the covers away from her face and saw he had put a blue t-shirt on. She slid over to his side of the bed and flung back the covers; she smiled and patted the bed. "Get in; we can talk more about my plan."

MacGyver shook his head as he accepted her invitation and got into bed.

Gillian was in Mr. Harrison's office, it didn't thrill her at all but she knew it was necessary; she had made up some terrible excuse to be there. The office looked like a combination of a library and a museum, the walls were covered from top to bottom with books, there were glass display cases with valuable looking vases on pedestals located all over the office, even the desk he used look like it was from another century. The desk was made of walnut wood and was as big as a car; he sat behind it doing paperwork. 

Gillian looked at her watch, it was 10 am, and time for her plan to go into action, the black marble Princess phone on Mr. Harrison's desk started to ring. The little buzzard sighed and set his pen down, it looked to Gillian that he was wearing the same suit from the day before; she hoped she was wrong.

"Yes?" His eyes grew wide and he looked at the young woman. "Yes Mr. Thornton she's right here." He handed her the phone. "Miss MacKenzie, its Mr. Thornton."

"Really? Thank you." She took the phone from him. "Hi Pete, how's it going?"

She set her clipboard down on the edge of Mr. Harrison's desk. "Yes Pete we know, we are taking good care of it believe me. It's locked up safely in my hotel room, right and I have the only key." 

Gillian frowned, she looked annoyed. "Yes we know, we understand how important it is that the necklace be delivered on time to the French government. We know Pete, its fine, MacGyver and I are taking good care of it, don't worry. Well unless something unexpected happens we should be there the day after tomorrow." The young woman rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip, she looked like she was listening to someone ramble on and on.. "I understand that, okay; we'll give you a call before we leave for Paris, bye." She handed the phone back to Mr. Harrison, he looked rather curious; the word necklace had gotten his attention. 

"Everything okay?"

Gillian nodded and put on her best fake smile. "Oh yes, everything is fine."

MacGyver came into the office and Gillian's fake smile was gone in an instant. "Mac, you won't believe who just called."

"Who?" He put his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans.

"Pete!" 

Mac sighed and shook his head. "Again huh?"

"Yes! What is that now, the third time he's called in two days?"

"Something like that, so what did he say?"

Gillian picked up her clipboard. "The same thing he said the other two times he called, he was going on and on about how important it is that we get that necklace to Paris the day after tomorrow and now bad it would look if something happened to it. He kept asking me if it was in a safe place, under lock and key and if we were taking care of it. You know if he was so concerned about us handling a million dollars in gold and gemstones he should have sent a guard along. But oh no we have to take care of a very valuable piece of history all by ourselves with no protection for it."

"Just calm down Gillian, the day after tomorrow it'll be in Paris and we won't have to worry about it anymore."

"I'll be glad too, I have been nervous about it the whole time we've been here."

Gillian took a deep breath and turned around. "Thank you so much for the book and for the use of your phone Mr. Harrison, I really appreciate it."

The sinister looking man smiled widely. "Think nothing of it Miss MacKenzie, I'm here to help in any way I can."

"Yes, now if you will excuse us Mr. MacGyver and I are going to go check on the packing and then we will be leaving for the day."

"Yes of course, I shall see you both in the morning, good night."

"Good night."

MacGyver reached out and shook the man's hand. "Good night."

The couple left the office and walked to the elevator, Gillian leaned in close to MacGyver. "What do you think? Think he bought it?"

"I saw his face, he heard everything you said, he was leaning so far over he nearly fell out of his chair."

Gillian snickered and put her hand over her mouth. "I'm not surprised, so what happens now?"

"Now we go back to the hotel, we should be getting a visitor when the sun goes down."

Gillian had put on her blue pajama shirt and matching shorts. "Mac I'm not going to argue with you about this, there is no other way."

MacGyver was not happy that the young woman was going to use herself as bait. "It could be dangerous, what if something goes wrong?"

"You're going to be right outside the door, you'll be here in a flash." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she was a little nervous.

MacGyver was still shaking his head. "I don't like this, not one bit."

Gillian sat down on the bed, he was standing over her and she reached out and took his hands. "Mac, I told him that I had the only key and that the necklace is locked up in my hotel room, he doesn't know that you and I are in the same room, if he sees you in here he's going to get suspicious."

MacGyver sighed; he knew that she was right; it had to be done this way no matter how much he wished it didn't. "All right, but promise me that if he is armed you'll do what he says and not put up any kind of fuss, okay?"

Gillian gave his hands a squeeze. "I promise, I'll be a good little robbery victim."

MacGyver leaned down and gave her a kiss. "Just be careful." He gave her a smile and left the room. Gillian watched him close the door behind him; she peeled back the comforter and laid down. She turned on her right side and left the light on, she knew it would only be a matter of time before she had an uninvited guest.

The door to room 312 opened slowly, it was a little before midnight, and a dark clothed figure crept into the room. He could see the outline of someone sleeping in the bed; it had to be the woman from America. The stranger reached into his pocket and took out a .38 caliber pistol. 

Gillian heard the sound of the door opening, her heart began to race, her back was to the door. She could hear the wooden floor creaking as whoever it was moved closer and closer to the bed. 

The dark figure pulled the hammer back on his pistol; he was standing right next to the bed. He reached out and grabbed the young woman by the hair; he rolled her over and stuck the gun right under her chin.

"Do you know what this is?" He pressed the barrel deeper into her skin.

The young woman shook her head; the man had a black ski mask over his face. "No."

"It's the barrel of a gun, if you move or give me trouble I'm going to pull this trigger and you will become headless, get me?"

Gillian nodded. "I get you, what do you want?"

He still had a hold of her hair and he twisted it, causing the young woman to cry out. "Get on your knees."

He moved back a little, this allowed her to peel back the covers and to kneel on the bed, he now stood beside her. "Now, tell me where your money is."

Gillian could barely move her head; he had such a tight grip on her hair. "There…" She raised her arm and pointed to the little nightstand beside the bed. 

The stranger craned his neck and saw that the nightstand had two drawers. "In there?"

She nodded but that didn't satisfy him, he pulled her head back and that caused her to cry out again in pain. "I didn't hear you."

"Yes I said yes."

"Good." He brought her head back forward and took the gun out from under her chin. "That was all I wanted to know Love." He let go of her hair and stepped back, he had the gun in his right hand and he brought it down across the side of the young woman's head. The blow was hard and it rendered her unconscious. She fell back against the bed, laying across it. The man looked in the nightstand, he saw her wallet but that wasn't what he came for. He searched the two drawers, he went over by the television but the stand it was sitting on didn't have drawers. He got an idea and looked under the bed, he saw a brown briefcase and he grabbed it. 

The dark figure had what he wanted, he looked at Gillian lying on the bed, he smiled and bolted from the room, there was a loud pounding noise as he ran down the hall. 

MacGyver heard the noise and he came out of the bathroom, he saw their door open and he ran over to it.

"Gillian?"

There was no answer, he stepped into the room saw Gillian lying horizontally on the bed, the right side of her head was bloody.

"Oh no." Mac went over to the bed. "Gillian…" He slipped one hand underneath her legs, the other under her head; he carefully picked her up and sat her against the headboard. He left her for a moment and came back with a wet washcloth. He pressed it against her head; this caused the young woman to come around.

"Gillian?"

She groaned softly and opened her eyes, her head was pounding, she saw the look on MacGyver's face. "Did he get it?"

Mac got off of the bed and crouched down, he flipped up the comforter and the little brown briefcase they had planted was gone. "Yeah it's gone."

"Good." Gillian touched the area of her head that was killing her, she could feel something wet and sticky, she knew what it was. "Well I didn't plan to get conked on the head."

MacGyver cleaned the blood off of her head and gently moved her hair aside. "Well you are going to have a nice lump."

"Did it cut me?"

"A little, you're lucky that's all he did." He held the washcloth against her head.

Gillian saw how he was frowning, he was sitting on the edge of the bed and she reached out and touched his face. "I know you aren't happy I'm going to have a nice knot on the side of my head but believe me it'll be worth it to get those artifacts back, right?"

MacGyver looked at her and nodded. "Right, we'll let's see if our little toy is working." He handed her the washcloth and moved his pillow aside, there was something that looked like a walkie talkie underneath it, Mac picked it up and flipped the switch. The red light came on and the walkie talkie started to beep, this made MacGyver smile. "It works….now we can go to Scotland Yard."

Inspector Mansfield was a middle aged man dressed in a gray trench coat. He had a cold and was dabbing his runny nose with a white handkerchief. He had thin graying hair, a round face and beady blue eyes; he looked more like a criminal than a law enforcement agent. He and his men had been called to the hotel. They were going over everything in the room, looking around and dusting for fingerprints. MacGyver and Gillian were sitting on the bed watching.

"Let me get this straight Miss MacKenzie, you and your partner in crime took it upon yourselves to trap this thief by planting a small transmitter in the necklace and then you invited him to steal it."

Gillian nodded. "That is correct, we had no proof to give to you that we suspected Harrison, stealing the necklace gave us proof that's why you're here."

He narrowed his eyes at the young woman. "Being smart with me will get you absolutely no where Miss."

MacGyver widened his eyes at her. "Inspector, I know what we did was probably not the best way to handle it but that doesn't change the fact that the necklace was stolen and that Harrison is probably behind it."

The Inspector blew his nose. "What makes you so sure it was him?"

"Because he was the only person in the room when Gillian got that call from Pete."

He tucked his handkerchief into his pocket and pulled out a small black notebook, he flipped back the cover. "That would be Peter Thornton, Director of Operations of the Phoenix Foundation, correct?"

"Correct."

Inspector Mansfield put the notebook back in his pocket. "Mr. MacGyver, may I see your little tracking device?"

"Of course."

Mac picked it up off of the bed and handed it to him, he looked it over carefully, it was an ordinary walkie talkie that MacGyver had rewired, he was impressed. "Very good, and I assume it works by how fast the beep gets?"

"Right."

"Good." Inspector Mansfield tucked it into his trench coat pocket. "We'll be in touch."

Gillian got off of the bed. "Wait a minute Inspector, whatever you got planned I think MacGyver and I should be a part of."

The middle aged man shook his head. "I don't think so Miss MacKenzie, we will handle this from now on and I will be in touch if and when we recover your stolen necklace and the artifacts, good night."

The 4 men packed up their stuff and followed the Inspector out the door.

Gillian was angry; she went over to the open door and slammed it. "I don't believe this!" She came back over to the bed and plopped down beside MacGyver. "Oh he is going to handle it, I feel so much better." She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed.

"I know you're angry Gillian but you're just going to have to trust Mansfield, you don't get to be an Inspector unless you are a competent police man."

Gillian shook her head. "Yeah well that competent police man is going to go charging in like an elephant and we aren't going to get our artifacts back."

Mac yawned widely it was almost 1 o'clock in the morning. "There is nothing we can do Gillian, he took the tracking device with him."

Gillian looked at him and a smile broke out on her face. "You're right but we aren't totally helpless."

MacGyver looked at her and nodded. "That's right we aren't, we still have Harrison. The good Inspector is probably going to interview him about the theft; it's going to make him panic and go right to whoever his partners are."

"Right, and all we have to do is follow him."

 MacGyver and Gillian arrived at the museum just in time to run into Inspector Mansfield. He was coming out of Mr. Harrison's office. The Inspector smiled widely when he saw them. "Good Morning."

Gillian didn't like the way he smiled, but she tried to remember her manners. "Good Morning Inspector, you look awfully cheerful this morning."

He took his handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose. "I am, you see I just finished interviewing Mr. Harrison and I hate to break this to you but, he has an air tight alibi for last night."

Mac and Gillian both looked at each other. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything Inspector; he probably had someone else do it so he wouldn't be suspected."

The Inspector shook his head. "I doubt that Mr. MacGyver, we checked Harrison out thoroughly and he is clean."

Gillian shook her head. "So what you are saying is that you are going to do nothing, am I right?"

Inspector Mansfield's smile disappeared, quickly replaced by a scowl. "Wrong, we are still looking into the hotel staff, if we find anything I'll let you know."

MacGyver ran his fingers through his hair, he was frustrated. "Thank you Inspector, you've been a big help."

"You're welcome." The Inspector walked over to the elevator and pressed the button, the door slid open and he stepped inside. 

Gillian waited until the door closed again before she let MacGyver know her opinion, the moment it did she got angry.

"Can you believe that guy?" 

MacGyver put his finger to his lips. "Keep it down; remember Harrison's office is close by, if he hears you he is going to know we set him up."

Gillian took a deep breath, trying to get a hold of her temper. "I'm sorry, but that guy-"

"I know, come on let's go see Harrison."

"I know but trust me that boob didn't suspect a thing, he even apologized for the inconvenience. I think that Miss MacKenzie probably told him that she was on the phone with Mr. Thornton in my office when the necklace was mentioned. Right they have absolutely no idea."

Martin Harrison was on the phone with someone when there was a knock on the door.

"I have to go, someone is at the door." He hung up the phone and pretended he was doing paperwork. "Come in."

The door opened and the couple stepped inside the door, Martin looked upset when he saw them.

"Miss MacKenzie, I just heard about your unfortunate incident, I'm very sorry."

Gillian nodded, she tried to look sad. "Thank you, and yes it was unfortunate, not only for me and the Phoenix Foundation but for the French people as well. The necklace of Marie Antoinette was irreplaceable and worth a great deal of money, and now that piece of history is forever lost."

Martin nodded. "I understand, do the police have any leads?"

MacGyver shook his head. "No, they think it was someone that works at the hotel."

"They were just here in fact."

Gillian looked surprised. "Here why?"

Martin shrugged his shoulders. "The Inspector mentioned something about my being here when you talked to Mr. Thornton yesterday."

"Oh that's right, I guess it was my fault then I told him everything that happened and I mentioned that I was in your office when I got that call."

"Think nothing of it, you were only telling the Inspector the truth." Martin looked down at his papers and suddenly remembered something. "Oh good heavens I nearly forgot! Darren informed me that the volunteers have finished packing the last crate, the artifacts are ready to go."

Gillian smiled widely. "That's great; I definitely think it is time to leave."

"You aren't going to stay?"

"No, Inspector Mansfield said that he would contact us if he found out anything, so there really is no reason for Miss MacKenzie and I to stay we will be leaving first thing in the morning."

"I already took the liberty of having the crates loaded onto a truck; they are ready to go anytime you both are."

MacGyver stretched out his hand. "Mr. Harrison, you have been a big help, I would like to thank you for everything you did."

Mr. Harrison shook Mac's hand. "It was my pleasure Sir; I only wish your trip ended under better circumstances."

Gillian smiled at the Curator and offered him her hand, instead of shaking it; he brought it to his lips and kissed it. "Goodbye Miss MacKenzie, it was a pleasure to have met you."

She tried so hard not to let her disgust show. "Same for me Mr. Harrison, thank you and goodbye."

"I hope you both have a safe journey back to America."

The couple smiled at him and left the room, the minute his office door closed Harrison was back on the phone.

The artifacts were taken to the airport and put on a plane back to California, where Pete would be waiting for them. The Director of Operations was not thrilled with the idea that MacGyver and Gillian were staying behind to retrieve the missing artifacts, but even if he had objected he knew there was no way he could change their minds. That was one thing he noticed that the two of them had in common, stubbornness. Gillian was up in their room, she was waiting for Mac to get back, he was going to go rent a car and then the two of them were going to stake out the museum and wait for Harrison to lead them to their artifacts. She kicked off her shoes and laid down on the bed, she picked up the book she had borrowed from Harrison; it was a book on Jack the Ripper. 

Gillian figured that Mac would be returning any minute, but to occupy the time she started reading. The book was written very well, the words transported the young woman back in time to the dark, foggy streets of Whitechapel. She thought she heard a sound coming from outside her door. She thought nothing of it, probably just her overactive imagination amplified by the stirring novel; she closed the book and set it down on her pillow. The wooden floor outside her door creaked, she got up and went over to the door, she reached out and touched the door knob. The moment the tips of her fingers brushed the cold brass knob her senses were flooded with information. Gillian's heart began to beat harder and her breathing sped up, her abilities were telling her that she was in danger. The door knob started to turn in her hand, this startled the young woman and she gasped loudly, she reached up and put the chain across the door. 

MacGyver had gone to a few rental places but there were no cars available, he finally was able to rent a Triumph TR6, it was red and looked like something that James Bond would drive around the city in. Mac slid behind the wheel and looked at the tan interior.

"What do you think of her?" A little old man wearing a grey tweed jacket, a white cotton shirt and pair of dray grey twill pants leaned over and peered into the driver side window.

Mac nodded his head. "It'll do, haven't found much else and I'm running out of time."

The old man took a match out of his pocket and raked his thumbnail across the red head, the match sparked to life, he put it to his pipe. "I know, been a lot of folks wanting cars, she's my last one."

"I'll take her." He opened the door and got out of it.

"Come this way and we'll get the papers." The old man was puffing on his pipe and Mac followed the trail of sweet smelling tobacco smoke to a white single wide trailer that served as the rental office. He looked at his watch, hoping that Gillian wouldn't mind him being late.

Gillian watched as the door knob turned, the door opened but the chain prevented it from being opened all the way. A dark gloved hand shot through the opening and reached up and began fumbling with the chain. She went over to the window and flung open the drapes, it was a three story plunge straight to the ground. There was a loud banging sound as whoever was behind that door put their shoulder against it, after two hits the door frame splintered and the chain snapped. The door was thrown open and Gillian was once more face to face with the stranger that had robbed her the night before.

"Good Evening." He took the gun out of his pocket and pointed it at the frightened young woman. "You're coming with me." He slowly walked towards her, pulling back the hammer on his pistol as he did so.

Gillian shook her head, she saw the open door and decided to try and get to it. He came around the bed and she decided that now was her chance. She turned and tried to jump over the bed but he charged her, grabbing her hair as she made her jump. The young woman screamed as he pulled her down onto the bed, he climbed onto it and looked down at her.

"As I said you are coming with me and there's nothing you can do about it."

Gillian was flat on her back, lying horizontally on the bed she reached out with her right hand and felt the book that was still sitting on top of her pillow.

"I'm going to take you to someplace very special, someplace where they will never find your body."

She had the book in her hand and she shook her head. "I don't think so."

She picked up the book and hit her assailant on the left side of his head, the blow dazed him and he dropped the gun. Gillian sat up and with both hands on the book she hit him a couple of more times. She put everything she had into those blows. When he flopped down on the bed, she got off of the bed, dropped the book and ran out the open door. She was terrified that he would wake up before she escaped, she ran down the hall, turning her head towards the door expecting to see him come staggering out. The young woman ran head first into someone that grabbed her; she screamed and turned to see that it was MacGyver.

"Whoa whoa Gillian, what's wrong?"

She looked at him, so relieved that she almost cried, she threw her arms around his neck. "Mac…"

He returned the hug, he could feel her trembling. "What's going on?"

She took a few deep breaths. "He's back…he tried to take me away but I hit him with my book."

Mac pulled back from their hug. "Who's back?"

"That man, the one from last night that took the necklace."

He looked down the hall at the open door, he took her hand. Gillian shook her head; she didn't want to go back in there.

"No MacGyver, he's got a gun."

The couple slowly made their way back down the hall, they reached the room and MacGyver made Gillian stand behind him as he peered into the doorway. The assailant was sprawled on the bed, he appeared to be unconscious.

"Where is the gun?"

"I don't know, he dropped it when I hit him with my book."

They slowly entered the room and Mac let go of her hand. He went over to the bed and saw the gun lying beside the man. H picked it up and tucked into his leather jacket. Mac saw the book on the floor; he bent down and picked it up. "Jack the Ripper huh, was it a good book?"

MacGyver's face was totally serious and it made the young woman start to laugh, she nodded her head slowly. "A very good book, it had a real impact on me."

"You mean on him."

The couple looked at each other and started to laugh.

Inspector Mansfield was as charming as ever, he had a scowl on his face.

"Any idea why he returned Miss MacKenzie?"

The young woman shrugged. "He probably realized the necklace was a fake, a piece of costume jewelry I picked up at a little shop in the market district."

The Inspector shook his head. "So he saw through your little ruse, you are lucky he didn't kill you." 

Gillian sighed;she was hoping the lecture was over. "Yes very lucky."

"Let's see who this is, shall we?" The stranger's ski mask was taken off and much to the surprise of everyone it was Darren Starling.

"Who is this?"

Gillian couldn't believe it. "Oh my God, Starling."

MacGyver saw the puzzled face of the Inspector. "Darren Starling, he is Harrison's assistant and in charge of packing the artifacts."

The Inspector sighed. "Call an ambulance and I want double guards on him in the hospital."

"Right away Inspector." A young bobby nodded and went to go call for an ambulance.

MacGyver and Gillian were sitting on the bed; the book Gillian had used was taken as evidence. It was placed in a plastic bag and sealed, along with Starling's gun and the ski mask.

"Are you sure you are not injured Miss MacKenzie?" The cop was standing in front of the couple.

"I'm sure Inspector, I think he is the one that needs medical attention, not me."

"Yes, seems you whapped him pretty good with that book, he may have a concussion."

MacGyver could not help but comment. "And some people say books aren't useful anymore."

Gillian smiled and shook her head. "And the funny thing is that I got that book from Harrison, he lent it to me this morning. I think it may be the first time Jack the Ripper ever saved a life instead of taking one."

The Inspector took his handkerchief out of his pocket. "Yes well, if you will excuse me, I have work to do, and artifacts to find. Will you both be in London for at least one more day?"

"I think so Inspector, right Mac?"

MacGyver looked at Gillian and nodded. "Yeah we'll be here; I told Pete we wouldn't leave London without those artifacts."

"All right then, I should be in touch." The Inspector actually smiled at both of them, he turned to his men. "Let's go." He walked out the door and a group of bobbies followed him.

The Parkinson Inn felt terribly about what had happened to MacGyver and Gillian; to make up for it the hotel upgraded the couple to the luxurious suite in the west tower. 

"Wow now _this is a fancy room." Mac set his bag down and walked into the room; he took the key from the door and tucked it into his pocket. Gillian walked in behind him and whistled as she looked around the room._

"You aren't kidding, look at this place!" 

The room was huge. The bed was in the center of it, it was a king sized bed with a bright red velvet comforter. The bed sat on top of a huge fur rug, there was also a nightstand with a marble Princess phone on it. There was a big TV sitting on top of an entertainment center, next to it was a small refrigerator in the corner, undoubtedly filled with liquor. 

Gillian set her bag down on the bed and went over to the window; she opened the matching red velvet drapes and looked at the incredible view of the city below.

"Great view, it makes me feel like Rapunzel."

MacGyver laughed. "Yeah I bet it does." He sat down on the bed and laid back against it. "Finally, we can relax, the cops are going to go find our artifacts. The rest are on their way to California, we can finally just kick back and do nothing."

The phone that was on top of the nightstand on the right side of the bed began to ring.

"I'll get it." Gillian came away from the window and picked up the phone. "Yes?"

"I didn't even know we had a phone in here."

"Good Afternoon Inspector." She was trying not to laugh at what Mac had said. "Oh he did? Really? All right then, yes we will be here at least two more days. Thank you for the call, bye." She hung up the phone and plopped down beside Mac.

"So what did he say?"

"Starling woke up, he confessed to everything, including that he and Harrison are partners and stole our artifacts. Mansfield called to tell me that sometime tomorrow they are going to check out where Starling told them the artifacts are. He said as soon as they find them they will let us know, I told him we would be here at least two more days." Gillian dropped her bag on the floor and propped herself up on one elbow. "So what are we going to do over the next two days?"

"As little as possible Gilly."

Gillian was looking down at him, he had his eyes closed and she traced her finger down his face and neck. He opened his eyes and saw how serious she looked. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She shook her head. "I'm not thinking of anything."

MacGyver saw that she was not telling the truth, he lifted her chin with his fingers. "Gillian…"

The young woman sighed. "Okay so maybe I was thinking of someone."

"Who?"

Her eyes met his and she sighed again. "Someone from my past."

"What's his name?"

"Michael Pershing, I met him when I was in college, he was studying to be a chemical engineer. He was so handsome he had black hair and big green eyes, the first time I saw him I was in love."

MacGyver nodded, he understood what that was like. "Was it mutual?"

"He and I were together for over a year, we had some big plans. We were going to get married, have kids, the works."

"So what happened?"

Gillian closed her eyes briefly. "One day we were in the library, one of my professors, her name was Christie Collins. Dr. Collins, my English professor, she came up to me and said. 'Gillian I just finished Dr. Matney's report on his research last summer, I had no idea you were such a gifted psychic.'  Michael looked at me; there was something in his eyes that was a cross between disgust and pain." She rubbed her hands over her face. "Dr. Collins left and he shook his head slowly at me and said. 'Gilly, he always called me Gilly, when you said that it got me thinking about him again, he said 'Gilly why didn't you tell me.' I told him that I had my reasons, psychics don't hire billboard painters to advertise to the world who we are and what we do. He said 'Gilly, you should have told me, you kept a big part of yourself secret, now we have no trust and without it we are _nothing.'  He let go of my hand, got up from the table and walked away."_

MacGyver could see the pain in her eyes, he smoothed the hair was around her face. "Did you ever see him again?"

"Once in a while, but if he saw me he would either pretend I wasn't there or turn around and walk in the other direction."

"That's tough Gillian, for him to totally ignore you after being together for a whole year."

"It was tough; I really thought Michael was the one for me. I was so certain I was going to be Gillian Elizabeth Pershing. I gave everything to him Mac, my love, my heart, something else and he just walked away, like I was nothing."

"What ever happened to him?"

"Last I heard he was working for some big chemical company in Seattle."

Mac turned on his side; they were now laying face to face. "I'm sorry Gillian."

The young woman shook her head. "Don't be, it's okay, what happened with Michael was a long time ago, and I'm not that same 20 year old that got her heart broken."

Mac moved closer to her, he put his arms around her. "No you're not; you are a very special woman with unique talents."

Gillian lifted her head from his chest. "You think so?"

Mac slowly nodded. "I know so."

Gillian realized what he meant by that. He was saying that unlike Michael, he had accepted both her and her gifts. _Eat your heart out Michael Pershing… she thought to herself as she put her head back down on MacGyver's chest, she put her arms around him and smiled. _


End file.
